Chabanon RM, Morel D, Postel-Vinay S. Exploiting epigenetic vulnerabilities in solid tumors: Novel therapeutic opportunities in the treatment of SWI/SNF-defective cancers.
Semin Cancer Biol 2019;
61:180-198. [PMID:
31568814 DOI:
10.1016/j.semcancer.2019.09.018]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian switch/sucrose non-fermentable (mSWI/SNF) family complexes are pivotal elements of the chromatin remodeling machinery, which contribute to the regulation of several major cellular functions. Large-scale exome-wide sequencing studies have identified mutations in genes encoding mSWI/SNF subunits in 20% of all human cancers, establishing mSWI/SNF deficiency as a recurrent oncogenic alteration. Accumulating evidence now supports that several mSWI/SNF defects represent targetable vulnerabilities in cancer; notably, recent research advances have unveiled unexpected synthetic lethal opportunities that foster the development of novel biomarker-driven and mechanism-based therapeutic approaches for the treatment of mSWI/SNF-deficient tumors. Here, we review the latest breakthroughs and discoveries that inform our understanding of the mSWI/SNF complexes biology in carcinogenesis, and discuss the most promising therapeutic strategies to target mSWI/SNF defects in human solid malignancies.
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